The clarion., 1887-03-16

GEAR the atmosphere; and really believe God
sends the annoyance Of our life upon Us TO kill
the spiders Of the soul and to clear the atnos-
phere OF our skies. These annoyanees are
sent on u.s. think. to wake Us up from our
lethargy There is nothing that makes a man
50 lively as a nest Of yellow jackets and
think that these annoyanees are intended to
persuade US Of the fact that this Is not world
for us to stop in. If we had a bed Of every
thing that was attractive and soft and easy,
what would we want Of heaven You think
that the hollow tree sends the hornet, or you
think the devil sends the hornet / want to
correct your opinion. The Lord sent the
hornet.
Then also think these annoyances come
upon US TO culture our patience. In the
gymnasium you find upright parallel bars
bars with holes over each other for pegs to be
put in Then the gymnast takes a peg in
each hand and be begins 10 climb one inch at
a time, or two inches, and getting his strength
cultured. reaches after a while the ceiling.
And it seems to me that thess annoyances in
life are a moral gymnasium each worry
peg by which we are to climb higher and
higher in Christian attainment We all love
to see patience, but II cannot be cultured in
fair weather It is a child Of the storm. II
you had everything desirable and there was
nothing more 10 get. what would you want
with patiencef The only time TO culture it is
when you are slandered and cheated, and
sick and half dead @Oh,v you say. aif
only had the circumstances of some well to do
man / would be patient too" You might as
wei say, IF il were not for this water l
would SWIM" or, Il could shoot this gun il it
were not for the caps.
When YOU stand chin deep in annoyances is
the time for you to swim out toward the
ffH... =
when your life is loaded to the muzzIe with
repulsive anuoyances-that is the time to
draw the trigger Nothing but the furnace
win ever burn out of us the clinl,er and the
STAG. have formed this theory in regard 20
small annoyances and vexations: 1t takes just
so much trouble to Ct US for usefulness and
for heaven. The only question Is, whether
we shall take it in the bulk or pulverized and
granulated. Here is one man who takes it
in the bulk His back is broken, or
his eyesight put out, or some other
awful calamity befalls him; while the
vast majority of people take the thing
piecemeal Which way would you rather
have it7 OF course in peacemeaL Better
have five aching teeth than one broken jaw.
Better ten fly blisters than an amputation.
Better twenty squalls than one cyclone. There
may be a difference of opinion as to allopathy
trouble / like homeopathic doses-small
pellets of annoyance rather than some knock
down dose of calamity. Instead Of the
thunderbolt give US the hornet.
If You have a bank you would great deal
rather that fifty men should come in with
checks less than a hundred dollars than to
have two depOsitors come in the same day
each wanting his ten thousand dollars. In
this latter case, you cough and look down at
the floor and up at the ceiling before you look
into the safe Now, my friends, would you
not rather have these small drafts of annoy
ance on your bank of faith than some all
staggering demand upon your endurance? l
want to make you so strong that you VIII not
| surrender TO small annoyances, In the vii
| Iage of Hamelin, tradition says, there was an
invasion of rats, and these small creatures al
most devoured the town and threatened the
lives of the population, and the story is that a
piper came out one day and played a very
| sweet tune, and all the verlnin followed him
followed him to the banks of the Weser,
| and then he blew a blast and they dropped
in and disappeared forever
OF course this is a fable, but wish could,
on the sweet flute of the Gospel, draw forth
! all the nbbling and burrowing annoyances
| of your life, and play them down into the
| depths forever. How many touches did the
artist give to his picture of "Cotopaxi," or
his Heart of the Andesf" | suppose about
$4,000 touches. / hear the canvas saying,
"Why do you keep me trembling with that
pencil so longl Why don't you put it on in
one dash?7 mo- says the artist, Il know
how to make painting; it viii take $4,000 of
these touches And | want you, my friends,
to understand that it is these 10000 annoy
ances which, under God, are making up the
picture Of your life, to be hung at last in the
galleries Of heaven, fit for angels to look at.
God knows how to make picture.
l go into a sculptors studio, and see him
shaping a statue. He has a chisel in one
hand and mallet in the other, and he gives
a very gentle stroke-click, click, clickl
say, "Why don't you strike harderF' "Ohl"
he replies, "that would shatter tho statue
| can't do it that way; l must do it this
way" So he works on, and after while the
features como out, and everybody that enters
the studio is charmed and fascinated Well,
God has your soul under process of devel-
opment, and il is the little annoyances and
vexGtions Of life that are chiseling out your
immortal nature. 1t is click, click, clicki
wonder why some great providence does not
come and with one stroke prepare you for
| heaven. Ah no; God says that is not the
way. And so he keeps on by strokes of little
vexatlons, until at last you shall be glad
spectacle for angels and for men.
You know that a large fortune may be
| spent in small change, and vast amount of
moral character may go away in small deple-
| tion. 1t is the little troubles of life that are
having more effect upon you than the
| great ones. A swarm of locusts will XIII a
| grain field sooner than the incursions of three
or four cattle. You say, tSince lost nv
| child, since lost my property, have been
a different man. But you do not recognize
the architecture of little annoyances, that are
| hewing, digging, cutting, shaping, splitting
and interioining your moral qualities. Rats
may sink ship. One lucifer match may
send destruction through block of store
houses. Catherine de Medicis got her death
from smelling a poisonous rose. Columbus. bv
| stopping and asking for piece of bread and
drink of water at Franciscan convent
was led to the discovery of a new world And
| there is an intimate connection between
| trifles and immensities, between nothincs and
everythings.
| Now, be careful to let none of those annoy-
| ances go through your soul unarraigned
| Compel them TO administer to your spiritual
wealth. The scratch of sixpenny nail some
times produces lockjaw and the clip of a most
| nfinitesimal annoyance may damage YOU for
ever. Do not let any annoyance or perplex-
| ity come across your soul without il making
| you better
Our national government does not think it
| bellttllng to put tax on pins and a tax on
buckles and tax ON shoes The individual
taxes do not amount to much, but in the ag-
| gregate to millions and millions of dollars
And would have you, o Christian man. put
| high tariff on every annoyance and voxa-
tion that come through your soul. This
might not amount to much in single cases.
| but in the aggregate it would be a great rev
| enue of spiritual strength and satisfaction.
| \ bee can suck honey even out of a nettle:
and if you have the grace of God in your
| heart, you can get sweetness out of that
which would otherwise irritate and annoy.
A returned missionary told me that a COM
| pany of adventures rowing up the Ganges
river were stung to death by flies that infest
| that region at certain seasons have seen
the earth strewed with the carcasses of men
slain by insect annoyances The only way to
| get prepared for the great troubles of life is
to conquer these small troubles. What would
you say of soldier who refused to load his
gun or to go into the conflict because it was
only a skirmish, saying, Il am not going to
expend my ammunition on a skirmish: wait
until there comes a general engagement, and
then you will see how courageous ana. and
what battling | viii do The general would
say to such man, ~If you are not faithful in
a skirnish you would be nothing in a general
engagement And / have to tell Won. q
Christian men, if you cannot apply the prin-
elples of Christ's religion ON small scale. you
viii never be able TO apply them on large
scale.
If had my way with you / would have
you possess all possible worldly prosperity. I
would have you each one garden-a river
flowing through it, geraniuns and shrubs on
the sides, and the grass and flowers as beauti
full as though the rainbow had fallen. 1
would have You a house-a splendid mansion,